Day 11: Long Plain Hut to Blue Water Holes - 23kms
Last night I was nice and warm in my sleeping bag. Woke up bang on sunrise and made breakfast. As I didn't have far to travel today I left around 9.30am.
I continued along Long Plain Road until I got to the turnoff for Blue Water Holes. At this point my front gears decided to stop working and I was stuck on the middle chainring. I pushed the bike up to the the top of the hill and checked. At first I thought the cable had snap, but that was fine. I then checked the derailleur and noticed a tiny pebble had got lodged in. Found a tiny stick and flicked it out and all the gears were back. Nice easy fix. Once back on the bike I rode on to one of the old homesteads which has been preserved. There are a number of them throughout the region, as it used be pastoral land. Now they have been abandoned and are used as emergency shelters when weather is bad at night. After looking at the old homestead I began my descent to the pools. Some of the drops were pretty steep but bike was good going down. Got the Blue Water Holes just after 12pm. Besides myself there is an older couple staying here. Very friendly and chatty. Later on in the afternoon I had a walk down to the water hole. It was very pretty through the narrow canyons. Whilst I was down there I also got a bit of water for today and tomorrow. Water certainly has not been an issue on this trip. I usually don't need to carry more than a couple of litres at a time. Which is very different from last year's tour in the outback where was sometimes carrying up to 16 litres of water for three days! Tomorrow I'll be following some management trails so don't think I'll see many cars. Pretty much like most of my days when I've been on the dirt during this trip. |
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Day 12: Blue Water Holes to Brayshaw's Hut - 56kms
Last night my neighbours, George and Maria, insisted on feeding me. Being a good cyclist I couldn't decline. Very nice folk.
This morning I was packed and ready to go at just before 9am. Today I'm following a number of dirt trails through the national park. The first couple of kms were very slow going, as I was having to push the bike out of a number small, but steep, gullies. Once past the gullies the scenery opened up to a pretty flat bit of land surrounded by hills. It was very peaceful and I startled a group of Brumbies and they galloped away. Very beautiful creatures. The trail stayed reasonably flat until I got to the aqueducts where the road began to climb, steeply. I had to push the bike up the hill, which was very slow going. I think it took me about 30 minutes to push the bike up the hill. Once at the top I continued along the trail until I got to Oldfield's Hut. It had taken me almost two hours to travel about 12kms. I had a short break at the hut. It looked like a nice place to camp, but it was too early in the day. I continued down Lone Pine Trail. There was more climbing and pushing the bike up steep hills. After another 10kms I got to this crazy steep descent. I now had to walk the bike down the hill. The hill just went down and down really quickly. When I was at the bottom I was outside the national park and riding through farms. There were a number of gates but access was fine. Just remember to leave a gate as you found it. The road had vastly improved from the trails I was using for the first 25kms. It was a hard, smooth clay and I was able to ride a bit faster. After another 25kms I took the Bobyan Road turnoff for Canberra. My legs were starting to feel tired. It most had been all that walking I had done earlier today. I began to climb through the Namadgi National Park into the ACT. I met a driver heading the opposite way and he stopped to chat. He mentioned that he had cycle around the area a couple of weeks ago and recommend one of the hurts just another 1km up the road. I stopped at Brayshaw's Hut and checked it out. Looked like a nice spot, so I decided to stay here for the night. I was originally going to ride another couple of kms up the hill to the campsite, but I have this place all to myself. After I had made dinner I enjoyed sunset from the verandah of the hut. I had only seen two cars today. Today has been a hard but rewarding day. I am very happy with the route I took. To help me navigate the trails today I had a number of maps preloaded on my phone in an app called Mudmaps. Before l left home I had plotted my route so it was very easy to check I was on the right path throughout the day. |
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Day 13 - Brayshaw's Hut to Canberra - 77kms
I had a good sleep in the hut last night. Even with the possums in the roof chasing each other and the wild dogs outside howling!
This morning it was quite frosty outside. There was a light mist on the hills so I decided to enjoy breakfast where I had dinner last night. Whilst I was busy making breakfast a couple of guys appeared. Certainly made me jump, as I thought it'd be too early for guests. They were just workmen wanting to look at the hut before they started their shift. After breakfast I decided to make a slight change to my route. The original plan was to follow the main dirt road and then camp at Cotter Creek. Instead I have decided to take the Bicentennial Trail along the old Nass Road. The reason for the change is so that I can enjoy a bit more of the scenery around here and check out a few more of the huts. To get to the trail I followed the road towards Mount Clear campground. Just before you get to the campground you are directed to the trail. Along the trail there was a lot of kangaroos to spot. The trail began a gradual descent and I had to ford across the river a few times before I got to my first hut, Demandering Hut. This hut is a few metres off the trail and is set in beautiful bushland. After I had a look around at the first hut I continued downhill. A few kms later I got to Horse Gully Hut. This hut is set in an open sort of field surrounded by the forest. Both the huts are really well maintained. So nice to see them being preserved but still being used. When I had finished taking my photos I continued, the trail went up and down for a while. At times I had to push the bike up the hill, thankfully the hills were a lot smaller than yesterday's. I also had to cross the same river a few more times. Generally this wasn't a problem, I just needed to find a shallow part to walk through. About 25k later I was finished on the trail. I was now riding past farms again until I rejoined the main road. It was about 2pm. I decided to call a hotel in Canberra to see if they had a room for the night. They said that would be fine. I had 40kms to ride. The weather was certainly a lot warmer than it has been for the last few days. Think it is mainly due to me be at a lower elevation (500m instead of 1200m). The wind was generally light and blowing my way. I got to Canberra at around 4.30pm. I am staying at Victor Lodge in Kingston. Once checked in I enjoyed a nice long hot shower, before making dinner. Today is the final day of the tour. Tomorrow I'll be catching the bus back home to Sydney. This trip has been really fantastic. It was nice to be back in the Snowy Mountains and taking the quiet dirt roads this time. I had great weather and beautiful campsites and scenery along the way. |
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